Border wall projects slated for February facing opposition in the Rio Grande Valley

In the city of Mission,TX, activists are expected to gather at Our Lady of the Guadalupe Catholic Church for a prayer walk to La Lomita – the chapel that inspired the city’s name – ending on the chapel's grounds with a rally and picnic.
USA Today Network - Texas

The agency intends to build 25 miles of concrete walls to the height of the existing flood-control levee in Hidalgo County next to the Rio Grande, the river that forms the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas. On top of the concrete walls, CBP will install 18-foot steel posts and clear a 150-foot enforcement zone in front.

The projects are being funded by more than $600 million approved by Congress in March, according to reports.

Customs and Border Protection has pushed ahead with building what’s already funded.

President Donald Trump’s demand for $5.7 billion in additional funding for new barriers along the border remains unfulfilled. Trump remains at odds with top Democrats on his effort to make good on campaign promises to build a “big, beautiful” wall, which led to the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.

Trump is expected to address the matter during his Tuesday night State of the Union address.

The National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas on Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019. The center will have about 70 percent of its property cut off by the proposed border wall along the levee in the area. Courtney Sacco/Caller-Times

People ride a bike along the levee near the National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas on Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019. The center will have about 70 percent of its property cut off by the proposed border wall along the levee in the area. Courtney Sacco/Caller-Times

Markers for planned construction on fencing and other barriers line the side of a road in Mission, Texas.
The plans released by the federal government show the barriers near the U.S./Mexico border would cut through the National Butterfly Center, a nearby state park, and a century-old Catholic chapel next to the river. Courtney Sacco/Caller-Times

Markers for planned construction on fencing and other barriers line the side of a road in Mission, Texas.
The plans released by the federal government show the barriers near the U.S./Mexico border would cut through the National Butterfly Center, a nearby state park, and a century-old Catholic chapel next to the river. Courtney Sacco/Caller-Times

Markers for planned construction on fencing and other barriers line the side of a road in Mission, Texas.
The plans released by the federal government show the barriers near the U.S./Mexico border would cut through the National Butterfly Center, a nearby state park, and a century-old Catholic chapel next to the river. Courtney Sacco/Caller-Times

Markers for planned construction on fencing and other barriers line the side of a road in Mission, Texas.
The plans released by the federal government show the barriers near the U.S./Mexico border would cut through the National Butterfly Center, a nearby state park, and a century-old Catholic chapel next to the river. Courtney Sacco/Caller-Times

A bright altar is the centerpiece inside La Lomita Chapel in this August 2017 file photo. The Catholic Diocese of Brownsville is fighting a federal proposal to construct a border wall at the site outside Mission, Texas. Kirsten Crow/Caller-Times